Brotherhood (17/27)

[nightspear]

Title: Brotherhood (Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen.

Chapter1	Chapter2	Chapter3	Chapter4	Chapter5
Chapter6	Chapter7	Chapter8	Chapter9	Chapter10
Chapter11	Chapter12	Chapter13	Chapter14	Chapter15
Chapter16	Chapter17

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Need

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4 December 1999; Nagada, Abydos; 1800 hrs

Neither Skaara nor Sha'uri was in sight when Daniel arrived back in Nagada.

Seinah was, however. "Sha'uri is resting in Kasuf's house," she told him when he walked up to his parents' old house--the schoolhouse now--and found her there.

"And Skaara? I thought I would find him with you," Daniel said curiously. If the two had not been betrothed before, he had thought that would be taken care of soon after Skaara's return--the two had grown up together and grown fond of each other, and it would strengthen trade relations between Nagada and the Kalima settlements, where Seinah was from.

To his surprise, Seinah looked uncertain and bit her lip. "You must have passed him on your way here. He went just minutes ago to Ra's Pyramid, to the chaapa'ai chamber with the Guards," she said, but then added carefully, "I think he has been...tired these past days. I worry. Please, will you speak to him, Dan'yel?"

Daniel frowned but assured her that he would and hurried down the ramp and back into the open desert.

He had been given him clothes that fit him, and he was even now becoming reacquainted with the feel of wood against his bare feet and sand in his toes. Not having to cover himself in layers and layers of Tau'ri clothing was much more comfortable in the heat, but he was constantly having to remind himself that his skin would burn in the sun if he stood too long.

Skaara did not seem to have this problem at all, and he seemed just as much at ease in his usual shendyt and robe as Tobay and the other two men on shift with them. Still, Daniel watched him tap the DHD and stalk around the room--there was a wariness to the way he moved, every gesture just a little smaller and tighter, and there was a sharper edge in his voice when he spoke. The others were giving him a wide berth, too, looking confused.

Now, as Daniel approached, Skaara was scowling at the ground. "What is wrong?" Daniel asked when he was in hearing distance.

Skaara started in surprise. "Nothing," he said quickly. "Nothing is wrong." All three of the others moved down toward another part of the room, perhaps to give them space to talk.

"You seem anxious," Daniel pressed. "Are you all right?"

But this was the wrong thing to say, because he was suddenly stumbling backward as Skaara whirled and stalked toward him, his gestures losing all of the unnatural control and becoming wide and violent. "Anxious!" Skaara snapped. "Do I not have reason to be?"

Daniel found himself backed against one pillar and stopped, though Skaara did not. "Yes, of course," he said, confused, holding up a placating hand. "I only wished to help--"

Skaara's hand closed around his arm, not hard enough to be truly painful, but alarming because it was Skaara, not an enemy or even a coworker training with him. "To help? What do you know about any of this?" Skaara spat, his fingers tightening.

"Let me go," Daniel said, forcing his tone to remain calm as his heart raced.

"Skaara?" one of the men said, the others turning at the commotion. Daniel couldn't be scared for himself yet, not with a hand still free and unthreatened, so he raised it and hoped the others would stay away until whatever this was (what was this?) had passed.

"I am not your child to protect, Dan'yel!" Skaara said angrily. "You speak to me like a wild animal to be gentled."

Unable to hold his own temper, he said tightly, "Perhaps if you were not acting like one--" He winced when his fingers tingled as Skaara maintained his grip. It was not a restraining hold, so it had to be a show of force or threat. Skaara could be fierce but not violent, and he never did this, not to anyone and certainly not to him. "What is this, Skaara? Gods--"

"Gods," Skaara repeated, then laughed, sharply, loudly, in the humorless way that reminded Daniel of laughing at hallucinatory Goa'uld while trapped in Mental Health.

Daniel grabbed the side of Skaara's wrist with his free hand and sharply twisted the grip off his arm before shoving roughly away, trying to make sure he wasn't about to get trapped between his brother and a solid object again.

"What are you doing?" he repeated shakily, rubbing his wrist and backing out of distance. "The brother I know would never act this way."

But then he remembered where he'd heard something like that before, the kinds of things that could make people act differently from how they usually were, and he noticed the restless way Skaara held himself, with half steps forward and then back, the way his hand had trembled on Daniel's arm and convulsed with uneven strength, the sweat on his face that was from more than just heat or anger...

Daniel swallowed and told himself he would not back away, unless he was threatened. "Did Klorel find another sarcophagus when his was destroyed?" he asked, mentally counting the number of days between now and the last time Skaara could possibly have used it.

Abruptly, the desperate fury on Skaara's face melted into wide-eyed pleading, and he sagged to his knees. "He did something to me. The sarcophagus...I have to find it. Help me, Dan'yel, this is killing me!"

Horrified, Daniel lowered himself to his knees, too, carefully grasping Skaara by shoulders that shivered under his hands. "It only feels that way, brother," he said, crushing a mental stream of oh no oh no oh no.... "I need to know when was the last time you were in a sarcophagus."

"Too long!"

"When, Skaara?"

Skaara shook his head, looking around nervously, then said, "Just before we went to Heru-ur's hatak."

Three or four days since Triad, two days on Tollana before that...gods, how long were days on Tollana? What was a day to someone living mostly on a ship? "How long were you on Heru-ur's hatak?"

"I do not know. Two, three days. I do not know. Please, Dan'yel, I need it. Help me--"

Daniel counted, trying to account for longer days and shorter days and time that was distorted when one was a prisoner and in space, trying to account for his own scant knowledge of medicine, but still...it was longer than he'd expected, considering what they'd seen of Colonel Maybourne who had only lasted a couple of days without a sarcophagus, and oh gods, Colonel Maybourne had almost died, but he'd gotten better, too...

"Listen to me, Skaara," Daniel said. "A sarcophagus will only make it worse. It will become better with time--"

Suddenly, Daniel found himself sprawled on his back, stunned, his cheek throbbing from a blow made sharper for its unexpectedness, and his only dazed thought was that it was a good thing he wasn't wearing his glasses.

"You lie!" Skaara yelled, bending over him. Daniel blinked, realizing only then that his brother had hit him and looked like he might do it again.

The others ran toward them. "Skaara, what is the matter with you?" Tobay said sounding shocked, two men wrestling him away as one went to Daniel. Daniel batted the hands away as Skaara stilled but held so tense in the restraining grip of his brothers that he was trembling.

"It is not his fault," Daniel said, wincing when he touched his own face experimentally. Louder, he repeated, "It is not his fault! The sarcophagus..." But of course, the others would have no reason to know about the Goa'uld sarcophagus. "It is like...like the se'upu leaf--it takes the pain, but with too much, it...changes the mind. Skaara had no choice, but it will--"

Skaara lunged for him again and was pulled back again. "How could you know what this is?"

"I have seen it," Daniel said. "I have seen what it can do to a man...I have felt what it is like to want to use a sarcophagus again--"

"You?" he scoffed, but hysteria made his voice higher than normal. "When have you ever had to use a--"

"I died on Klorel's hatak!" he said, desperately, hoping only for something to catch Skaara's attention. It did, at that, made him freeze along with the men still lingering near them. "Bra'tac healed me in the sarcophagus, only once, and already I hated how it felt afterward. It is nothing compared to what was done to you, but I know a little of what you are feeling."

Skaara sat down hard. "I hurt you, on the hatak," he said, his voice thick now, latching onto the one thing Daniel should never, ever have mentioned in his presence, no matter how careless and frantic. "You begged me to stop, but I could not--"

"No, no," Daniel said, scrambling forward on hands and knees and grabbing Skaara's head by both hands to make him to meet Daniel's eyes. "That was Klorel. Klorel hurt me, but you stopped him, brother, long enough for Bra'tac to heal me and help the Tau'ri. You saved us, Skaara, do you see? You can win again. Only trust me."

"I hear you screaming in my dreams," Skaara said dully. "And there are so many others... Yi shay, I have to go--"

Daniel had no idea whether he meant that he needed to get away from them or that he needed to go find a working sarcophagus, but when he started to move away this time, Daniel decided it wouldn't be wise to let him go off somewhere on his own, not in a room with a Stargate and a stash of guns.

As soon as he took a step forward, Skaara surged to his feet, and the others moved as if to close off his path. Daniel grabbed Skaara's arms and hooked his own through them, pinning him in place, and if Skaara tried to push him away, Daniel now had the advantage of size and training while Klorel had had technology to do all his work for him.

"Leave us alone," Daniel said to the others, holding on determinedly until Skaara tired of struggling and sagged. These were all grown men, however, and not under his command, and none of them moved; they looked like none of them knew which person they should be protecting. "Skaara is ill. Sha'uri may be suffering something like this. Please, someone must go to Kasuf and see if she is well. Tell me immediately if she is not."

"Dan'yel," Tobay said warningly, "is it safe--?"

"I will keep us both safe," Daniel snapped back, doing his best and perhaps not succeeding in turning so it wasn't obvious that Skaara had stopped fighting him and was fighting tears instead.

"You cannot stay here," the man pointed out.

And that was true. People came occasionally to the Stargate room, and certainly their brothers did often. Daniel hoped this would pass in time, perhaps with some care, as it had with Colonel Maybourne, but there was no reason to let people gawk or to let a desperate man near lethal weapons and a means of interstellar transportation.

"We will go to the catacombs beyond this room where Skaara and I used to play," Daniel decided. "I can care for him." It was close enough to the 'gate that he could run to find Janet for help if needed, but far enough that the weapons and the 'gate would not be immediate threats. "See to Sha'uri, Tobay, please."

With a worried glance at Skaara, Tobay said, "Should I bring anything to you?"

Grateful, Daniel looped a supporting arm around Skaara's waist as his brother began to sway. "My pack is in the SGC house, and there is a bag bearing the Earth symbol with other supplies for an emergency. We may need some time."

Tobay nodded. "I will tell Kasuf where you are and bring them to you."

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4 December 1999; Pyramid Catacombs, Abydos; 2200 hrs

It was only when the two of them had settled in the chamber at the end of the catacombs that Daniel felt himself starting to panic. He almost wanted to bring Skaara back to the SGC so that doctors could make sure he was all right but was at the same time reluctant to tear his brother away from their home so soon after they had all found it again.

Besides, at the SGC, there was a chance that Skaara would hear about Hathor's sarcophagus in the subbasement. Even Daniel didn't like to go in there alone; he was pretty sure he didn't feel any temptation to use it, but the fear of feeling that temptation--even after having used a sarcophagus only once in his memory--was enough. He shouldn't expose Skaara to that danger.

The Stargate was close, he reminded himself. The SGC's doctors were only half a minute away.

He took a quick moment to light two of the lamps, but when he crouched to set one down on the ground, closer at hand, Skaara crouched as well and touched Daniel's face. "I hurt you," he said again, snatching his hand away with a jerk as if afraid he might do something more.

Daniel pasted on a smirk, not flinching when it pulled on the forming bruise under his eye and made his jaw ache. "Brother, I have studied and fought with a Jaffa First Prime. Do not flatter yourself."

There was no answering smile or jibe. Instead, Skaara said, "This was not Klorel or any Goa'uld; I did this. Gods, Dan'yel..."

"It was not you who used the sarcophagus," Daniel reminded him. "You are not yourself." He paused and said worriedly, "You are shivering. Are you cold?"

Skaara shook his head but wrapped his arms tightly around himself. "I am ashamed," he said quietly, pulling his legs toward his chest and closing his hands in a tight grip around his ankles, an uncharacteristic pose for someone as open and boisterous as Skaara.

"You should not be," Daniel said firmly. "What you survived would have destroyed many men."

If anything, the shivering only worsened. Daniel bit his lip and wondered how long it would take for Tobay to find the spare pack that the SGC kept stocked and ready. Inside would be basic supplies, including first aid supplies. If the withdrawal got as bad with Skaara as it had with Maybourne, then that and his own lack of skills wouldn't be anywhere near enough, but it was at least something to keep the worst at bay.

Gods, he was out of his depth. He should have gone to a physician immediately, or gone to Sha'uri and Kasuf, or asked the SGC for help...

"I could not defeat Klorel," Skaara said dully.

Daniel swallowed nervously and replied, "But Klorel made a mistake. The Goa'uld always forget how strong men can be. He should not have tried to take an Abydon as his host. You beat him in the end."

Skaara stood without warning to pace restlessly. Daniel glanced up warily and shifted his seat so he remained between his brother and the stairs leading out. Finally, Skaara snorted. "Klorel made many mistakes. He was young, arrogant, foolish. He would have had nothing at all if the Jaffa had not been so afraid of Apophis. Even with the power his father handed to him, he did not dare retake Chulak, the most loyal of his father's planets."

"Really," Daniel said, surprised at the unexpected outburst of information. Part of him itched to write it down, to get everything on record before he forgot, but he stopped himself. There would be time for that later.

"There was a village," Skaara said abruptly. "Klorel destroyed it. Do you know why?"

It took a moment to realize the question wasn't rhetorical. "Because Klorel was evil?" he tried.

"Because there was a sarcophagus there. The people did not even remember Setesh--who ruled that planet thousands of years ago--but his sarcophagus was still there, and Klorel wanted it. It was harder for me to fight him each time after he used the sarcophagus."

Ah, Daniel thought. So that was why Setesh had wished to steal Hathor's sarcophagus; he must have left his sarcophagus on some other planet and, on Earth, had to change hosts regularly before finding a new one. "That was not your fault," he said again.

"Thousands dead," Skaara spat, pausing to grind the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I remember--I watched--"

Daniel stood and dragged Skaara's hands from his eyes. "Stop," he ordered, sharpening his voice into Jack's command tone. "There is no need for that. Skaara, you are free of Klorel now!"

"But not of what he left in me," Skaara said. He looked like he was shaking now from exhaustion as much as from anything else.

Imagining how Sam and Janet had explained this to him, Daniel said, "The sarcophagus makes you think as you normally would not. Now is the hardest time for the body. When you have passed the worst, it will only become better each day until it is completely gone. In a few...days"--or weeks? how long had it taken Maybourne to recover?--"you will have won."

"Sha'uri," Skaara murmured. "She was weak already--Dan'yel, you must--"

"Our brothers have gone to ask after her," Daniel reminded him.

"What should I do now, then?" Skaara snapped, making a sharp motion with his hand before he pulled back again and wrapped his arms around himself.

For a moment, Daniel's mind blanked, and he blurted the first thing he could think of to say. "We used to play here all the time," he said, looking around by the light of the two lamps he'd taken the time to light when they'd first come in. He walked toward the far end, watching to make sure Skaara wouldn't run. "Do you remember that wall?"

Skaara's eyes followed him. After a moment, he stood and joined Daniel. "Claire thought there was a room behind here. We tried everything to open it."

Daniel found himself smiling despite everything. "You tried to smash it. Stupid."

"I was stupid?" Skaara retorted. "You read the entire wall aloud, three times, because you thought it would open if you spoke the right word."

"Two times," Daniel defended, then admitted, "Perhaps two and a half." Skaara stared at him a moment too long, but then he let out a weak laugh, so Daniel claimed it hurriedly as a minor victory and blustered on, "Papa came here often. Remember, you used to follow him everywhere, when I was little, and we--"

"He let you sit on his shoulders so you could see," Skaara said thickly, raising a shaking fist to his mouth. "Ay. I cannot believe they are...gone."

Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it. Somehow, selfishly, he had not truly considered that he was not the only one who would mourn his parents; Skaara had loved them, too, perhaps as much as he had, and it must seem fresher to him, confronted with their absence for the first time.

"The grief becomes easier to bear with time," Daniel said quietly. "This, I can tell you for certain."

Skaara touched the wall beside him, tracing the ancient, carved words that had so fascinated the Jacksons. "I should not..." Skaara started, his breath hitching. "You, of all people--"

"I was not the only one who lost them," Daniel said. Skaara's expression crumpled again. Daniel caught him as his knees gave way and lowered them both to the floor. He felt Skaara's returned embrace as the older man released a sudden, desperate wave of grief in tears.

By the time Skaara tapered off into shivers, he seemed too exhausted to do much of anything but sit, shaking, against the wall. "Go away," Skaara said, but when he lifted his face, it was pleading and not angry. "Please, brother. I do not want to be seen this way."

"No," Daniel said, then bent to pick up one of the lamps to light the others that dotted Ra's Pyramid. This time, when Skaara darted past him, he wasted no time in dropping the lamp and pulling his brother forcefully to a halt, blocking the path out of the catacombs with his body. "I am sorry, but I will not let you be hurt. I will stay here with you until you are well again."

Skaara lowered his gaze and slid down to sit against the wall, rubbing his reddened eyes. "You cannot know what this is like."

"No, but I told you that I have seen a man on Earth suffer this illness, too," Daniel insisted. "I have also seen him well again. Only weeks ago, he helped to save all of Earth from an attack, and he is not such a strong man as you, Skaara. You will heal. Rest, now."

"I cannot sleep."

"Lie down and close your eyes before you tell me that," Daniel countered.

Exhausted already, it took some coaxing to convince Skaara to lie down, but once he did, he dropped into a fitful sleep.

With a sigh, Daniel placed a finger lightly against Skaara's wrist so he'd be able to feel the beating against his own skin--even in restless sleep, the pulse was too fast.

It was suddenly silent in the catacombs, and with the silence came the quiet panic again.

Daniel's own brief brush with Klorel's sarcophagus had been enough to scare him. The worst he had felt was a night of restlessness shut in Teal'c's room, trying and failing to meditate, and a few days at home with Jack, unable to think of anything but the fact that SG-1 might have just killed his brother and that the sarcophagus had felt frighteningly good. Janet had told him his previous exposure to it might have made his body or his brain more responsive to the sarcophagus than most people, but what he had felt must have been nothing next to what Skaara was feeling now.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before footsteps sounded. Carefully putting down Skaara's wrist, Daniel padded toward the pathway that led toward the exit from the pyramid.

Tobay was carrying the supplies, and as he handed them over, he said, "Sha'uri does not have this illness, but she has explained it to me."

Another robed figure appeared behind him, and Daniel's jaw dropped. "Sha'uri, what are you doing here? You were to be resting! Tobay, what were you thinking?"

"I am not Tobay's to command," Sha'uri pointed out, and, to her credit, she did appear to be stronger than she'd been right after Thor's Hammer, if still too thin and too tired-looking.

"Yes, but..." Daniel glanced back at Skaara's unsettled form. "Sha'uri, he is not himself. I do not want you to be hurt."

Sha'uri stared back at him calmly. "You do not have to tell me this, Dan'yel. Amaunet used a sarcophagus also."

"But then, how are you not..." He trailed off, remembering what Skaara had told him. "Heru-ur stopped allowing you use of a sarcophagus. Skaara says it helped you to fight Amaunet."

"Perhaps I was fortunate," she commented philosophically. "It helped me to fight Amaunet, then Amaunet helped me to fight this illness."

"Sha'uri--"

"I understand this," Sha'uri said, her tone sharpening, "the way no one else could. Stay if you wish, but you will not make me leave." Tobay still stood to one side; he looked embarrassed and shrugged slightly. "My father knows where we are. I have told him what is happening."

"Fine," Daniel conceded. "But you will not be alone with him until he is better."

"You are neither my father nor my husband, Dan'yel," Sha'uri said.

"But I have a right to want my family safe," Daniel countered quietly, idly wondering what Sam would have said if she'd heard that sentence. "You and Skaara both--you know it would also hurt him if he managed to hurt you. If he tried to fight, could you stop him?"

Sha'uri stared at him, then dipped her head once in concession.

"Tobay," Daniel said, "can you stay here with them for a short while? I want to go to the chaapa'ai to ask something, but I will return soon."

If Sha'uri was still bothered by having a guard set on her and Skaara, she did not show it. "We can care for him here, at home," she told him before he could leave. "He would not wish to be locked in a room on Earth until he recovers."

Daniel plucked his GDO out of his pack and hesitated. "I know of a man on Earth who nearly died from this," he said, glancing again at Skaara. "He needed Tau'ri medicine to save him."

"He must have used the sarcophagus too much, then," she replied. "Skaara is young, younger than the Goa'uld prefer. Until Skaara grew to his full age, Klorel would not have used the sarcophagus unless he was injured or he needed to quiet Skaara's mind. We can care for our brother here."

Daniel frowned, but he supposed older Goa'uld must use the sarcophagus very frequently to slow aging so completely. Skaara might be an adult on Abydos, but few System Lords were known to appear so young--Ra seemed to have been an exception--for age commanded respect in many societies. "You are certain?" he asked. She nodded once. "The Tau'ri may know of ways to ease his healing, even if he remains here. I can ask someone to come to help him. Let me ask them?"

"Yes," Sha'uri allowed. "Go. Ask them."

Once Daniel was in the Stargate room, he dialed Earth's familiar address without having to think about it and only remembered to switch on the long-term Abydos MALP once the wormhole had already been established and his IDC sent. Kneeling again, he called, "Stargate Command, this is Daniel Jackson, requesting assistance."

There was a pause in which he could imagine Sergeant Harriman palming open the iris and saying that they were receiving an audio transmission, and then General Hammond's voice responded, "This is General Hammond. We weren't expecting to hear from you for days, Mr. Jackson."

"Yes, sir," Daniel answered, realizing he'd left Earth only hours ago. "I'm...sorry, but...I need some advice from Dr. Fraiser--or Major Carter, if either of them is there?"

"Get Dr. Fraiser on the line, Sergeant," the general told someone, and then, "Come on through. The iris is open."

A few, more subdued men were standing guard around the chamber, so Daniel said, "I will be back soon," then turned the MALP off and walked through.

...x...

Cold air hit him, and he remembered he was in casual Abydonian garb now, with only light cloth covering some of his skin. Swallowing the Tau'ri modesty he'd absorbed while on Earth, he looked up and couldn't deny some disappointment that it wasn't Jack and SG-1 in the control room. It was late, he supposed, and they weren't on shift tonight. They'd probably all left for a team night.

"Mr. Jackson," General Hammond said, walking into the 'gate room. "Is som--what happened to you? Are you all right?"

"What?" Daniel said. He realized he was mussed with dirt from struggling with Skaara and his cheek still throbbed. "Oh. No--it's not me, sir; it's my brother. The sarcophagus withdrawal. I think we can...can take care of him, but I know it can get pretty serious, and Sam and Janet know more about the sarcophagus than anyone, and...and you said to call if I needed help--"

"Of course," the general said gently, dropping a hand on Daniel's shoulder and drawing him down the ramp. "That sounds like something we can deal with. Why don't I go with you to the infirmary and we'll talk to Dr. Fraiser."

"I'm sorry; I'm a mess," Daniel mumbled as he walked out of the embarkation room with the general, rubbing a patch of raw knuckles that he hadn't even noticed before--he must have scraped his hand against the stones at some point.

"I'm more concerned about whether you're hurt," the general said, looking over him again. Daniel shook his head and pulled his robes tighter around himself in the cool air. "Where is Skaara now?"

"I brought him to an abandoned room where there won't be so many people and weapons around, but his sister is with him, and...I have to go back, sir, I just need to ask a couple of questions, if that's okay."

"We take care of our own, son," the general said. "Whatever you need. We should have thought of this, anyway, before sending everyone home so quickly."

When he stepped into the infirmary, he found Janet waiting. Daniel ducked his head to avoid her gaze, more clinical and openly assessing than the general's, then sidestepped her attempts to check him over, straightening his robes.

"Skaara is going through the sarcophagus withdrawal," Daniel said quickly. "Sha'uri says he's not in danger--that it's different from when someone uses it as much as Colonel Maybourne did in such a short time. But he's not...comfortable, I guess, and I don't know if there's something I can do for him."

There was a pause. "Well," Janet said. "Let's see...how long ago was his last dose?"

"As far as I can tell, it's been something like, uh...seven Earth days since he was in a sarcophagus, maybe a day or two more than that, but I don't know how accurate that is."

"One option is to sedate him," she said, "which seemed to help in Colonel Maybourne's case, and your sister may be right--withdrawal symptoms appeared much earlier in the one case we've seen." She grasped his chin and turned his face to the side. "He's been violent, I presume?"

"It's not his fault," Daniel said quickly, shaking her hand off and folding his arms self-consciously. "It was just--we were both taken by surprise. He'll get better."

"Yes, he will," she agreed calmly. "But we can make it a little easier in the meantime, for him and for people around him. I'm not saying to keep him comatose, Daniel, but we can help him stay a little calmer until his hormone levels are back to normal. And there are other mild drugs that can help with physical discomfort."

Daniel swept his hand through his hair. "Okay. So what should I do?"

Janet raised an eyebrow. "You're not bringing him here?"

"He'd rather stay on Abydos," Daniel said. "Sha'uri knows what it's like, and she says we can deal with him. He'll want to be home, not surrounded by strangers."

"Are you sure?" she said, looking doubtful.

"Well...not really," he admitted, "but that's what his sister said, and their father, and they're next of kin, right? And Sha'uri would know better than anyone."

Janet sighed. "If you're sure...I'll put together some supplies and instructions for you," she said. "Remember, anything you give Skaara is only for his comfort, so if in doubt, err on the side of caution. I can't give you anything too strong without someone around to supervise, but still, keep a close eye on the medication at all times and keep careful track of dosages. If anything seems off, you need to get him here for medical attention immediately, do you understand?"

"Yes. I'll report back as scheduled in a week, and we're staying very close to the Stargate. If he gets worse, I'll come back."

"A mining survey team is going to Abydos in two days for some measurements," General Hammond said. "I can ask them to check on you while they're there--more than one of them is a certified medic."

Daniel nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'd appreciate that." To Janet, he asked, "How long do you think it'll take? And, uh...and how do we know when it's over?"

"You have to realize, Daniel," she said, even as she began moving around the infirmary, "it's not something that'll just stop one day. I'd guess that within a week or two, you won't need to watch him so closely, but you'd be wise to keep an eye out after that. You understand, I'm sure, that there are repercussions to something like this that go beyond the physical or biochemical."

"Yes," he said. "I understand. We'll...we'll stay close by."

...x...

Skaara was awake when he returned, crunched into himself on the floor and wrapped in a blanket. Sha'uri sat next to him and was acting as if she were not bothered by his discomfort, talking casually about the grain surplus she'd just learned about, and how Bekaa had given birth to a healthy little baby girl two months ago, and how the weather was so mild these days...

Tobay was in the catacombs just outside the main chamber. "I brought some medicines that may help," Daniel said as he approached, setting down the bag he'd newly brought from the SGC.

"He became ill outside, just before you returned," Tobay said, too softly for Skaara and Sha'uri to hear at the far end of the chamber. "He will heal?"

"Yes," Daniel said. "The medicines are only to ease the healing."

"It is like se'upu leaf, you said," Tobay said. "Then should he not stop a little at a time?"

"Se'upu was the closest I could think of, but Goa'uld technology is different from normal things--it would only make him worse. Trust me, brother, he will be well in time."

"Kasuf worries."

Daniel hesitated, glancing toward where Sha'uri was wiping sweat from Skaara's face. "Give us a few days. Kasuf can come to see him, but not too many others for now."

"Skaara asked even me not to look at him," Tobay said uncertainly, looking unnerved. As long as Daniel could remember, Skaara had been like the leader among the boys of his age set, even to people like Tobay who were a year or two older. Tobay was Skaara's closest friend.

"He does not want you to think badly of him, that is all," Daniel insisted. "Do not worry. Tell the Guards--do not let him go anywhere on his own right now, but let Sha'uri and me care for him. If he gets past us..."

Tobay stood, preparing to leave. "I understand."

"Tobay...listen to me," Daniel said, catching his arm before he could leave. "You must think of something else. If more of our people begin to take this battle to the Goa'uld, what happened to Skaara and to Sha'uri will happen to others."

"And what happened to you, yes?" Tobay said sharply. Daniel held still as Tobay studied him. "If the Goa'uld come to Abydos again, we will fight. We will not let them take our home again."

Daniel raised his chin. "If they come, I will fight beside you, and I am certain Earth will, also. Only do not lead our people to battle before you have to. Please."

When Tobay finally nodded and exited into the Stargate room, Daniel took a moment to gather what he needed and returned to Skaara and Sha'uri.

"I spoke with the physician on Earth," Daniel said, settling down on the ground with them. "She says that this will make sleep come more easily, Skaara. I can also give you something to ease your discomfort. It will not harm you."

Skaara hunched forward, winced, then nodded.

"Should we eat, as well?" Sha'uri suggested as Daniel found the right doses and handed them to Skaara with some water.

"No," Skaara said.

"You will not feel better if you starve," she pointed out.

Daniel put aside the pack he'd brought from Earth hours ago, which he hadn't even had a chance to open yet since arriving on Abydos, and reached for the emergency pack normally stored in the SGC house. "There is simple food I can prepare for us," he said, digging out an MRE and trying to decide what would be easier on someone who wasn't feeling well. All three of them had traveled much farther than the outskirts of Nagada in the past years; military rations were no hardship for a night.

"You, Dan'yel, who can burn a clay pot attempting to boil water?" Sha'uri said. "You know how to prepare food?"

Surprised, Daniel looked up and then recognized it as a prompt to carry on as normal. He rolled his eyes. "I was seven years old that time. Anyone can prepare this," he promised, "even I."

"Sha'uri has a son," Skaara said suddenly. Daniel stopped while opening one of the rations, glancing up to see Sha'uri frozen with her mouth partway open, as if she'd been about to say something. "The Goa'uld said the Tau'ri stole him."

"I gave him to Dan'yel," Sha'uri said in a very controlled tone.

"Harsesis," Skaara pressed. "The Goa'uld child."

"Skaara, stop," Daniel said sharply.

This time, it was Sha'uri who was avoiding his eyes as she said, "No, do not stop. Dan'yel, you said he was safe. I have not had time to ask more, but..." She trailed off.

"He is safe, I promise," Daniel said. "I watched over him while we searched for Kheb, and we brought him there, as you told us." Suddenly apprehensive, he said, "I gave him into the care of Oma Desala, whom they call the Mother."

Her brow wrinkled. "Who is Oma Desala?" Daniel's stomach dropped, but then she said, "My demon knew that there was a powerful being on Kheb. That is Oma Desala?"

"Yes. She protected us from Heru-ur's forces, and she has taken Shifu now to where he can be protected from all those who are looking for him."

"Shifu," Skaara spoke up. They both turned to him to see if he would say anything else, but he only curled himself tighter. "Ay, Sha'uri, I am sorry..."

Sha'uri sighed and pulled him toward her. Daniel swallowed hard, trying not to imagine her holding Shifu instead, and moved a short distance away to prop the bag against a wall and wait for it to heat.

In the end, Skaara ate very little, but, ill or no, Daniel found that he needed to make sure that Sha'uri took her share. A year of captivity under Heru-ur and the following escape and flight to Thor's Hammer had not done her any favors, though he wasn't sure whether Heru-ur had truly mistreated her or if the struggle against Amaunet was at fault for the tired look about her.

Reluctantly, she accepted the bread he pushed at her, though she nibbled at it only slowly and half-heartedly. "Ah," she said after a minute. "If you are serving me food, then surely you have not found yourself a wife yet."

Daniel spluttered on a mouthful of water. "No! Of course not!" His face heated, and he scowled at her. "Sha'uri," he complained.

"No woman awaits you on Earth?" she teased.

Skaara leaned back against the stone wall, watching them quietly, looking too worn for anything else, so Daniel retorted, "No. There is no one near my age at the SGC--"

"Ah," she said, her lips twitching, "so it is only because you seek someone younger. You are old enough to begin thinking of marriage--I know how men are at your age. There are girls here who would gladly become a woman with you, Dan'yel."

"No, there are not," he said indignantly, and then paused, unable to deny a little curiosity--sometimes it was hard to tell when she was joking. "Are there? No, wait--do not tell me."

Sha'uri laughed delightedly. "Shall I name some girls for you?"

Trying to hide the flush that was creeping over every inch of his skin, Daniel reached for his personal pack. "I am going to read," he announced, suspecting that he sounded less dignified than he'd have liked, since his voice came out considerably higher than expected. "If you have nothing to do but mock me...oh," he said as he pulled out a sealed plastic bag and a small can.

"What?" Sha'uri said curiously.

He felt a silly smile spread over his lips as he showed them both the bag of homemade cookies. "Sam must have put these in my bag while I was not looking," he explained, then pointed to the jar. "This one...could have been any of my friends, I think."

She picked up the latter. "Instant Coffee," she read from the label; between her and Skaara, Sha'uri had always been the more studious about reading and writing in any language.

But coffee had caffeine, which Daniel didn't think Skaara should have, so he said, "Take these if you want"--he slid the cookies toward her and Skaara--"but I am saving the coffee." He checked to see if there was coffee in the MRE pack he'd opened and put that away, too.

Sha'uri quirked an eyebrow at him, then pushed the cookies toward Skaara. "Ih," she said, slapping her brother gently on the shoulder. "Dan'yel's friend makes food for him. Perhaps we have lost his heart to a foreign woman."

"Ay," Daniel sighed. "If you tell her that, she might kill me," he warned. Skaara offered a tired smirk.

...x...

The first time Daniel woke that night, it was to Skaara's footsteps as he paced restlessly, his arms wrapped around his torso.

"I am not running away," Skaara whispered when he caught Daniel watching. "I just need to move. Sleep, Dan'yel."

Daniel squinted around until he could see Sha'uri still asleep in a corner, wrapped in a spare SGC jacket and a blanket. With a yawn, he forced himself to his feet to join Skaara in his circuit of the chamber, following behind him the way he'd often done as a child, fitting his feet into the tracks left by his brother's footsteps.

"How do you feel?" he whispered, seeing the tremors that coursed unevenly through Skaara's muscles, the tightness of each step, as if it were taking all of his control.

Skaara turned. "Strange," he replied after a moment. "Tired."

"Oh," Daniel said.

They stopped together near their wall, the one that might conceal a secret room, in their childhood imaginations if not in reality. As if thinking the same thing, Skaara touched the stone and said, "This used to be exciting, believing there might be something beyond these walls."

Daniel stepped in closer, admiring the words that his parents had pored over years ago as children gathered eagerly behind them to offer help. "We explored everywhere when we were children, even farther than our parents allows us. Why should it be less exciting now?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

Sure enough, Skaara tapped his finger on the wall, then slapped an angry hand against the words. "I have had enough of exploring," he said bitterly.

"Hush," Daniel warned when Sha'uri stirred. Skaara clamped his lips together and rubbed his eyes. When Sha'uri had settled again, he said quietly, "Not all exploring is about the Goa'uld. Is it not better to know there is something else just as wonderful without hurting anyone?"

Skaara stared up at him, his jaw clenched tight in the dark. "It is not your place to be wise, brother," he whispered finally.

That would have been a joke, normally, but Skaara's tone said it was only partly so this time. No one liked platitudes at times like this, but Daniel took a breath and said, "It is what others have told me. I believe it now. When you are well again, there is no reason we cannot return to the things we loved before."

"You were always skilled at turning things to sound good," Skaara accused, one fist clenching and unclenching agitatedly.

Daniel forced himself to shrug casually. "Why can they not be good?"

"We are not living the stories told to a child!" Skaara hissed.

Daniel held out a warning finger and said, "I know this is not a childhood story, Skaara! Do you think I have not seen horror, too?"

"Yi shay, Dan'yel--!"

Frustrated with his brother as well as with himself, Daniel took a step forward and pressed a palm against Skaara's mouth, using his other hand to hold the older man in place. He took a slow, steadying breath, looked away from Skaara's furious eyes, and repeated, "Hush. You will wake your sister." He removed his grip and raked a hand through his hair, checking the watch he still wore to see how much time had passed.

"What was the medicine you gave me?" Skaara asked a moment later.

"It was to take some of the pain and make you feel calmer," Daniel said, noting the tight lines around his brother's eyes. "Did it help?"

Skaara shuffled a foot against a loose rock, then nodded. "Some."

"I can give you a small amount again, just enough to help you sleep." Skaara wasn't meeting his eyes and didn't answer, so he added, "It is not a weakness to be unwell--I will tell you before you take too much."

Finally, reluctantly, Skaara agreed. Daniel waited until he was asleep again, fetched his notebook to make another note of the time and dose. He made sure his bag with all possible medications were within his reach and his reach only as he lay down again, too, fitting his body into the opening of the doorway.

...x...

The second time he woke, it was to Sha'uri.

Daniel blinked himself out of sleep when he heard the first rustling sounds, but Skaara was lying still on the floor. He watched in confusion for another moment, until he heard a moan from the other side, where Sha'uri was sleeping fitfully. "Kheb..." she murmured, and Daniel snapped himself up and hurried to her side.

"Sha'uri?" he whispered, hesitating with a hand poised over her shoulder.

"Stop--do not touch me--"

"Wake up!" he said, more urgently, not wanting to imagine what she was dreaming. He caught her arm and shook her gently. "Wake up, sister!" All of a sudden, Sha'uri's eyes sprang open. "Sha'uri," Daniel said helplessly when she flinched from his shadow, breathing hard. "No, it is Dan'yel, Sha'uri, you were dreaming--"

"My baby," she said, one hand catching his and squeezing tight as she sat up. "Where is he?"

"Ay," Daniel breathed, looking away from her wide eyes and shuffling closer to fold his arms around her shaking form. "He is safe. I took him to Kheb, remember? He is with Oma Desala."

Her face pressed into his chest. "My baby," she said, muffled in the front of his robes. "Gods, my son..."

"I am sorry," he murmured, smoothing her sleep-mussed hair out of habit, because it was what she always did to him when he was upset. "Hush, Sha'uri. We may yet find Shifu again."

She shuddered. "Shifu," she echoed shakily. "What does it mean?"

"It means 'light,'" Daniel said softly, settling on the ground, where he could hold her more comfortably as they both sat against the wall. "I named him Sharemes in your place, and Kasuf called him Shifu, to bring light into our lives." Her hand clenched on his robe. "The Tau'ri showed me how to take care of him. Even O'Neill helped me--"

"He was happy?" Sha'uri said, shifting to look at him, a tear escaping to run down her face. "He was healthy?"

"Yes," Daniel said, mustering a smile as he wiped the tear away with a thumb. "Very much."

Sha'uri dropped her gaze. "Thank you, Dan'yel." He looked away, not knowing how to answer that--he, who had stolen her baby from her arms--and she reached up to smooth a few strands of his hair, resting her hand on his cheek. "My blood and your care. He is our child." He nodded vigorously, as if that would negate the need to speak. "You seek him, still?"

Daniel cycled through they, I, and we before settling on, "We do. Sha'uri, we do not know where he might be, but if anyone finds something that could be the place, we will search for him there."

"Oma Desala," she repeated, swallowing hard. "Then I suppose I must trust in another Mother."

It was strange to feel her smaller body beside his when he could still remember the days when she could pick him up and carry him in her arms. "You are his mother, Sha'uri," he told her. "He bears your name. You are in his kalach for eternity."

She nodded against his shoulder. "I did not dream when the demon was awake within me," she said abruptly. Daniel twisted a little to look at her in surprise. "When the demon slept, while I carried...Shifu, then I dreamed. But after that...it was not until Amaunet was dead."

Daniel grimaced. "Dreams can be good," he offered. "The Tau'ri say we must dream to live."

"Ah," she said, pulling gently away, "because when the demon rules, it is not life. Now I dream, and I know I live."

...x...

The third time Daniel woke, it was to Sha'uri's voice in his ear and Skaara's hands on his shoulders.

"Dan'yel, wake up," Sha'uri urged as Skaara shook him the rest of the way from his dreams.

Gasping, Daniel scuttled back, images of Klorel and Amaunet still swimming behind his eyes with the memory of Apophis's host. Arms closed around him from behind, and he struggled against the hold, only to hear Skaara snap, "It is I! Stop, Dan'yel!"

"You were crying out in your sleep," Sha'uri said worriedly. "Are you awake now?"

Daniel stopped. Skaara did not let go, but now he could feel the unnatural heat and shivers that wracked his brother's body. Not quite able to speak yet, he leaned forward toward his knees, bringing his hands to his eyes as he tried to push away the lingering ghosts of his dreams.

"I am sorry," he mumbled when he trusted his voice again. "I should not have woken you."

"I woke you first," Sha'uri said gently.

"I woke you first," Skaara corrected, pulling away to sit next to him, mirroring his pose.

Daniel unfurled himself enough to look at his brother and caught a pained grimace. "I am not the one who is ill," he said, embarrassed. He raised the back of a hand to Skaara's face, where the skin felt too warm. "You have a fever. Are you in pain?"

Skaara pulled away from his hand. "Everything aches," he admitted, still trembling slightly. "It is not so bad. What were you dreaming?"

"It was not so bad," Daniel parroted, sitting on his hands so they wouldn't shake.

"What have we three come to?" Sha'uri said, sounding fond and sad and amused all at once. She laughed suddenly and wriggled into place between them, an arm around Skaara and her head couched on Daniel's shoulder. "Ay, my babies," she sighed.

Daniel choked. "Babies?" he echoed. "We have not been babies for years, Sha'uri!"

Skaara grumbled, "Dan'yel is a baby."

"Now you sound like one, too," Sha'uri told him tartly. Daniel watched Skaara make a face at her and couldn't stop a surprised grin of his own. He leaned past her to stick his tongue out at his brother. Sha'uri only laughed again. "My brothers," she said softly. She pressed a kiss to Skaara's temple, then turned and did the same to Daniel before settling back as before, all three of them wrapped in one another as they floated together toward peace.

---

From the next chapter ("Brotherhood"):

"Ay, your face!" Skaara crowed. "You are too easy to...ih!" he said, hopping away as Daniel lunged toward him. He laughed harder as he turned and fled the catacombs. Daniel grinned, then pushed himself to his feet and ran after him, catching sight of the Guards' startled expressions as he rushed past them and tackled his brother to the sand.